Greater Emphasis on Scholarship and Research

Around the turn of the 21st century, RIT leadership instituted a new vision for research.

“We will be first in that class of universities that forms real, effective, and meaningful partnerships with industry and government,” said then RIT President Albert Simone when he announced his intentions. It was felt that the time had come for RIT to engage in an increased level of sponsored research and scholarly dissemination that would help the university emerge on the national stage. “First in Class” became the catch phrase.

This was partially in response to declining student demographics in the northeast and the need to expand the geographical base from which we were drawing students. RIT leadership also recognized that expanding the research portfolio would assist the university in what it had always done well—provide students with a hands-on experiential learning experience that would serve them well in their future careers. As student enrollment climbed, it was clear that additional resources would be required to provide meaningful research opportunities on campus to supplement the other hands-on experiences students received through their co-op placements and other opportunities, such as senior design projects.

In conjunction with the increasing level of sponsored research was an acknowledgement that competing at the national level for research funding would require an expansion of our terminal degree programs. Thus RIT added to its one pre-existing and very successful doctoral program in imaging science (1989). New Ph.D. programs were launched in microsystems engineering (2002), computing and information sciences (2005), color science (2007), astrophysical sciences and technology (2008), sustainability (2008), and engineering (2014).